The weblog of Joshua Drescher

Arlen Specter switches parties.

The Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority (or they will once Franken is finally seated). There is so much on the line now that it’s hard to really fathom the potential consequences. Everything they’ve complained about for the past thirty years or so is now up for correction. National healthcare, corporate reform, labor reform, education reform, welfare reform, tax reform, gay rights, restoring the separation of church and state, the right to choose. The list goes on and on.

This is on top of the economy teetering on the brink of collapse, two wars, the potential of a nuclear Iran and North Korea, etc. Time is short - they won’t maintain this sort of majority outside of this election cycle - but the potential and stakes are unprecedented.

They have the chance - right now - to send us down a path that seemed unimaginable just 10 years ago. They have the chance to do great things. They also have the chance to fail to capitalize on this rarest of opportunities - to squander the only chance we’ve had in my lifetime to REALLY go after some of these issues. I’m hopeful that they’ll manage to rise to the occasion, but experience tells me that disappointment is far more likely.